Roamer Explores the Planet Xag

In 1989, shortly after we launched Classic Roamer, Lincolnshire ICT Adviser Ron Jones came up with four topics. “Earth and Space” was one of these. The topic provides a context and it normally includes activities unrelated to Roamer. Topics is one way of integrating Roamer into classroom teaching. Dr Keira Sewell wrote to us about a project Exploring the Planet Xag. This is the centrepiece of our new Space topic.

Does it Support Life?

A spaceship is on a mission to the Planet Xag. Can the planet support life? It’s dangerous to send astronauts to explore the surface, so this is a job for robots. The little brave Roamer is ideal for the task.

Keira included specimens like:

Samples of water from ponds and rivers.

Examples of plant materials such as leafs, flower, grass and twigs.

Rock samples.

Powder samples.

These samples allow students to perform some simple experiments and ask important questions about life and the conditions needed to support life.

What’s Involved?

You can approach most Roamer projects in different ways. This means you can use the same idea with students of differing ages, cultures and abilities. We’ve posted two versions of Planet Xag in the Activity Library:

For students ages 5 to 8

Students aged 9 to 1.

We encourage you to modify the tasks to suit your needs, however, the project must include:

Students creating an alien landscape.

Using Roamer to map and explore the landscape.

Gathering samples and information.

Studying the information and decide whether people and animals can live on the planet.

Participation also involves sharing your ideas with other schools and submitting examples of your work to the project page. You can do this through the Space Forum or by emailing it directly to Valiant Technology.